Trope Round Up: Historical Romance Books Where He Outanks Her

An Affair with the Viscount by Sadie Bosque (2022)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Necessary Arrangements series. Most of this book takes place during the house party hosted at the end of the previous book. Richard is an overbearing viscount who is interested in an affair with actress Josephine, even though he will soon be betrothed to another proper young lady. Josephine rejects his advances at first, but finds herself attracted to him and wanting to give in. With her past experiences with not-so-worthy gentlemen, she’s definitely wary and has a hard time trusting him. She’s proven right when she finds out that Richard is betrothed and he has a lot to overcome to win her back. We get some external drama here with Josephine’s friend and another actor being forceful and vile. Richard comes to the rescue in his overbearing ways, but it’s always at just the right time. I liked seeing Richard soften over time and realize that he cannot live without Josephine and seeing the support of his family.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

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The Duke and the Dressmaker by Eva Devon (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Once Upon a Wallflower series. Newly inherited duke James attempts to rescue a young woman at a tavern and finds out that she’s the sister of his missing ward. Lily and Violet are granddaughters of the old duke but not part of society due to their mother’s scandalous marriage to a French painter. Now orphaned and impoverished, Lily works as a dressmaker’s seamstress while caring for her young sister. James insists that they both move into the ducal townhouse and after a bit of a disagreement, they do. However, James and Lily are starting to stir up a scandal with all the time they spend together unchaperoned, as much as they try to keep things proper. They do ultimately get married, since Lily is so good at managing James’ household, but conflict looms ahead as James plans to leave England without having mentioned his plans to Lily. I liked how well Lily and James worked together and started to soften towards each other, even though both have been disappointed by their own parents in the past.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

The Governess and the Duke by Lydia Drake (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Renegade Dukes series. Viola is the governess to one duke’s rambunctious ward with a long-standing crush on that duke’s best friend. When traveling with her charge, the teenage girl falls and sprains her ankle, forcing the pair to stay at James’ ducal castle. Although James has been hiding away in the country after the embarrassment of a rejected proposal, he finds himself intrigued and attracted to Viola and wondering why he had never noticed her before. Both James and Viola try to fight their attraction to each other at first, being of different social standing, but that doesn’t last for too long. Viola’s charge and James’ sister become fast friends and cause all sorts of trouble, which is humorous to read. When we find out about Viola’s past and the secrets she’s been keeping, she’s pleasantly surprised by James’ reaction. Overall, this was a pretty straightforward social class difference romance, made more interesting by the antics of the teenage ward and sister.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

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Bookshop Cinderella by Laura Lee Guhrke (2023)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 1 of the Scandal at the Savoy series. Max is doing a favor for his cousin by collecting research and plans for a dinner party from bookseller Evie; when he meets her, he’s tailed by a few boisterous younger men who disparage Evie’s plain and bookish demeanor. He ends up wagering that with a bit of polish, she’ll be able to fill her dance card at a ball in six weeks time. Max tries to enlist Evie to be part of his wager, but she refuses at first, until a boiler bursts in her bookshop, closing it down and leaving her without a place to stay. Evie has basically been alone in running her shop and barely making ends meet and has never experienced any balls or parties, so Max’s offer forces her to experience new things. Meanwhile, as a duke with no heirs, Max is seeking the perfect society wife and trying to learn from the mistakes he made with his first wife, who was ostracized in society. While Max and Evie grow closer with their talking and banter, they both know that the social class differences between them would be unrealistic to try to overcome. This was a fun book to read and I liked reading about Evie gaining more self-confidence through the book.

Advance ebook provided by Forever Books via NetGalley. Advance print book provided by Forever Books.

Surrender to the Devil by Lorraine Heath (2009)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 3 of the Scoundrels of St. James series. Sterling is a new duke who has been traveling for many years and newly back in England. At his sister’s wedding, he is intrigued by Frannie being surrounded by her scoundrel friends in a protective manner. Of course, he decides that he’s attracted to her and propositions her almost immediately. Meanwhile, Frannie is also intrigued by the man who looks at her with desire instead of concern and protection. She grew up in the streets, was sold into a brothel at age twelve before being rescued, and has not been interested in a man since then. While she initially rejects Sterling’s proposition, she is certainly considering it. Frannie and Sterling continue to orbit around each other in various ways, but Sterling starts to become impressed by Frannie’s selflessness and care towards orphans. Even though both know that Sterling is not willing to marry Frannie, they still slowly end up falling in love.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Heiress Bride by Madeline Hunter (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Duke’s Heiresses series. New duke Nicholas is still adjusting to his inherited status and feeling the stresses of his responsibilities. He’s surprised when he receives a visit from the last of the late duke’s heiresses, Iris. She is a rare book dealer and has come to inquire about a particular rare book that the late duke had said that he would assist her in finding. Iris had only recently learned that the duke had passed away and is completely surprised by her inheritance. Nicholas agrees to assist her in finding this book, but is also suspicious of Iris, so he intends to keep a close eye on her. This one is another book in the series where the two main characters really start on opposite sides of an argument but also can’t seem to stay away from each other. This book was super interesting in terms of Iris’s family history and scandal with her grandfather. We also re-open the investigation into the late duke’s death and wonder if Iris or Nicholas become targets for violence as well. And I also enjoyed the big reveal at the end when we start to dig into the attics.

Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

A Perfect Bride by Samantha James (2004)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Sterling Family series. Sebastian is a stuffy marquess who avoids scandal because of the family scandal he suffered when his mother ran away. When he stumbles upon an injured woman in the streets, he brings her home to care for, even though he thinks she’s a prostitute and thief. Devon is neither of these things, just a young woman trying to survive in her impoverished conditions. Devon and Sebastian argue and bicker and definitely do not trust each other, but still end up intensely attracted to each other. Neither are thinking ahead to the future when they embark on a physical relationship, but it’s Sebastian who needs to get over his fear of scandal if he wants a future with Devon.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

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The Duke Starts a Scandal by Sophie Jordan (2023)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Duke Hunt series. A new duke and his housekeeper have gotten off to a rocky start and now seem to have a contentious relationship. Susanna has been the housekeeper at the estate, despite her relatively young age for the role, and is peeved by the arrogance of the new duke. Lucian had lived in poverty with his younger sisters until it was discovered that he was the duke and has a scandalous secret of how he earned the money to support his family. These two don’t trust each other much, but Lucian’s irritation is mostly due to the stress of his new role and the attraction he feels for Susanna. A house party that Lucian hosts sets up more trouble as Susanna is confronted by a man who knew her when she was young. We get to find out Susanna’s secrets and what brought her to work as a maid and then housekeeper all those years ago. The romance between Lucian and Susanna is pretty straightforward once we get past the disgruntled misconceptions they have of each other, and we get to see these two become open and honest with their secrets.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

It Happened One Midnight by Julie Anne Long (2013)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 8 of the Pennyroyal Green series. Jonathan is the youngest son of a wealthy gentleman and told he must marry appropriately within the year to retain his allowance. Except that Jonathan has no intention of marrying and is more interested in his newfound investments. When he crosses paths with Thomasina, he believes that he’s immune to her charms and is mostly irritated by her antics. Except we soon learn that Tommy has a soft heart and is secretly rescuing children from untenable situations. The soft-hearted Jonathan gets caught up in the scheme as well, and these two oh-so-slowly fall in love. We’ve got a few more of Tommy’s secrets to uncover along the way and we get to see Jonathan grow a backbone and some principle as well. This one is another excellent addition to the series.

Ebook and audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

It’s Hard Out Here for a Duke by Maya Rodale (2017)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Keeping Up with the Cavendishes series. James and his sisters are bound for London to take up his new role as duke, but he enjoys one last night as “Just James” with a beautiful woman he meets at a tavern. Meredith is traveling back to her role as a duchess’ companion when she meets James’ eye across the tavern and decides to take this one opportunity for passion before she continues being a proper companion. Of course, they’re in for some bad luck when they realize that they’re stuck in the same household with completely disparate social stations and need to forget their one night stand ever happened. While James struggles with his new role and responsibilities, he’s continually tempted by the presence of Meredith and wishes he could give everything up to be with her instead. Meredith is the one that is usually sensible and explains to James the ways of the ton and how their relationship would be completely inappropriate. However, all the hints of the relationship between James and Meredith that we’ve seen from the first three books come into full force in this one, where they both need to decide what’s really important to them.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.